Treasure Creation Manual

Hello Denizens of Hyrule Castle!

Official Stuff

A few official things from the last post before I get started. First, the Treasure Creation Forum is dedicated to the creation of new treasures for the Library of Treasures. To avoid unnecessary overlap, you should probably read through the Library first. Second, this forum is where all new treasures will be submitted for staff review; here, and not in character sheets or quest threads or the Suggestion Bin. Thirdly, treasures are to be posted into the "Treasure Submissions" sub-forum; the Staff will move an individual treasure into the main forum when they are ready to focus on processing it. A member can only have one treasure in the works at a time. Only once that treasure has been accepted or denied can that member can post another treasure. Finally, just as treasure overlap is something we do not want to see, blatantly copying a treasure idea from someone else will be frowned upon. Please respect the creative rights of other people and allow them to post their treasure first.

Introduction

Treasures in HC are communal things. When someone makes a treasure, the Staff looks it over to make sure that it has the potential to be used by lots of people, not just the creator. Something specialized to only one character is considered "niche," and because the Library is a community resource to draw upon, adding niche treasures to it would only clutter it. When you make a treasure, keep in mind that you're not just making it for you; you're making it for everyone.

The treasures in the Library are very varied in terms of use and purposes. From combat (Din's Burst) to defense (Nayru's Affection) to healing (Life), treasures can do many things. However, while uses may be many, try to make sure that it's not an effect that's really super-powered. For example, a spell that acts as a laser beam and would devestate most of Zora's Domain probably wouldn't be passed. If your treasure somehow contributes to the potential of character development (Dark Affinity), so much the better! We don't require it, though; there are treasures that don't really lend themselves to character development (Spark), but they're still useful.

The biggest thing to remember when making a treasure is that this is a Legend of Zelda RP; this isn't DnD or Final Fantasy. Most of the items and spells in the Legend of Zelda serve a very clear, specific purpose. If you can't imagine something fitting into a LoZ game, it probably shouldn't go into the Library.

Treasure Creation Template

To aid you in your valiant venture into the lands of Treasure Creation, we've decided to streamline the TC system. Basically, you pitch us the idea and we draft up a full treasure description and have you review it. Here's the new template:

Name: Pretty obvious; what would you like your creation to be called? Remember that "magic bogey storm" prolly won't work.
P/W/C Type: Another easy one. Which virtue is this treasure rooted in?
Appearance: If it's a physical item, what does it look like? If it's a spell, does it ripple or shimmer? Stuff like that.
Description of Function: 'Da good stuff. Feel free to get as in-depth as possible; "armor piercing arrow" is a little vague.
Limitations: Start-up lags, time restrictions, cool-downs, racial prejudices, prerequisites, etc.

Please note that Professions are exempt from this template and need to be submitted in their entirety.
If you wish to propose a change to an existing treasure, simply post the treasure itself and say what you'd like altered.

I know how much fun it is to draft up a full treasure description. You can tack one onto the end in a Spoiler Tag, and we'll consider it, but please remember that the balance between the treasures and the overall setting is a delicate one; there'll probably be changes that'll need to be made.

Treasure threads need to be kept between the creator and the staff. If you're following a treasure and have some input you'd like to share, please PM an involved moderator. We've had experiences with people just popping into others' TC threads and throwing their opinions out there, and while it's nice to see interest and motivation, let's try and keep things orderly. If a 3rd party posts, all of a sudden the staff have to respond to two separate people and answer their indnividual questions and concerns, and it just turns into this huge mess. Let's avoid that, ya?

P/W/C

Choosing the proper P/W/C type is actually important. Try not to just lump everything magic-related into the Wisdom virtue; give it some thought. We can help you if you're stumped, but the definitions of the three virtues are pretty self-explanatory.

Power based treasures usually involve brute force or techniques (moves learned through practice and repetition).
Wisdom based treasures usually involve intelligence, complex mechanics, and intricate spellwork.
Courage based treasures usually involve charisma, intuition, agility, and willpower.

There's been a growing trend for treating P/W/C as some kind of stat system instead of the meta-tag that it is. The main function of P/W/C is to determine pricing, remember. If you would like to have it have some kind of in-game significance for you personally, that's perfectly fine. However, it's official purpose is to determine both pricing and slight bonuses in certain instances.

Unique Treasures

Remember when I said that the Library of Treasures is a community resource, and that niche treasures aren't encouraged because of it? Well, that's why we don't really like Unique treasures very much. The point of the Treasure Creation process is to produce treasures that are useful for everyone, not just one person. Because Unique Treasures, by their very definition, are not available to the public, they go against the point of the TC process.

I would just like to briefly clarify on what exactly a Unique Treasure is. A treasure's status as "Unique" has zero in-game significance. Like P/W/C, it's entirely a meta-game tag. A Treasure that is Unique cannot be used by anyone except for its creator or by people who have gained the creator's express permission to use it. Hopefully now our reason for wanting to avoid Unique treasures is clear.

Prerequisites

First off, I'd like to establish that I'm not talking about having to own treasure X to obtain/use treasure Y. I'm talking about P/W/C prerequisites, which are to be discouraged. As P/W/C is a primarily meta-game aspect of determining price, it doesn't make sense to say that "you can't use this unless you have P3 because this treasure requires strength to use."

Conclusion

So, hopefully now the Treasure Creation system is a lot easier to understand and use. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please let one of us staff know and we'll get to you as soon as possible!

See you around the forums!
-Quill